With Alessio Ghirlanda
BILLIONAIRE Warren Buffett’s real estate firm has been dragged into a €200 million mafia scandal after one of its franchise holders was arrested in Marbella, the Olive Press can reveal.
Italian-born Luca Tamburello, who has been detained on allegations of money-laundering, became managing partner of the Marbella branch of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHHS) in 2020.
He took on the role after BHHS Spain – a licensed franchisee of Buffett’s conglomerate – partnered with Tamburello’s former company, Value Added Property, in a high-profile deal that made global headlines, including in Forbes and El Pais.
Tamburello, 42, was arrested on Thursday over allegations he had been handling wealth linked to infamous Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, who died in prison in 2023.
He was detained alongside his mother and father with, so far, over 22 luxury properties seized along the Costa del Sol.
Aside from six companies frozen today in Spain, two companies are also being probed in Gibraltar.
A spokesperson for BHHS Spain told the Olive Press on Thursday the company ‘has not maintained any legal or employment relationship with Luca Tamburello since December 2024.’
He added, however, that Tamburello had been granted rights to use the company’s trademark under a licensing agreement.
“The company respects the presumption of innocence and trusts that the ongoing judicial proceedings will be conducted properly,” the spokesperson continued.
“It also stands ready to cooperate fully with the authorities should this be required.”
Late on Thursday, Tamburello was still listed as a ‘sales associate’ and ‘luxury collection specialist’ on the company’s Marbella website, although his profile has since been taken offline.
When the Olive Press approached the firm on Thursday, we were told initially it ‘must be a different Luca, there must be a mistake’.
But then, a colleague passed over the details of the PR firm ‘dealing with the issue’.
Earlier, a receptionist had told us: “Luca won’t be in today and unlikely tomorrow. You should leave a message on his mobile.”
When pushed further on his arrest, she added: “I have been instructed to say nothing about this matter.”
Tamburello, originally from Mazara del Vallo in Sicily, initially worked in banking between London and New York for a host of high-profile multinationals – including Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg, and Citigroup.
In 2009, he co-founded the real estate agency Value Added Property with German-born Jonas Kruminkl, a fellow alumnus of Marbella’s prestigious Aloha College.
Then, in 2020, BHHS Spain partnered up with Tamburello’s company in a bid to gain traction in the Costa del Sol luxury home market.
Value Added Property then rebranded itself as Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Marbella, based in upmarket La Quinta, and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Malaga.
BHHS told the Olive Press on Friday it had ‘terminated the rights of the owners of the Malaga and Marbella offices to use the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices name.’
A spokesperson for the company added that Tamburello ‘no longer had any affiliation’ with the Spanish franchise and that ‘Mr Buffett had no direct involvement with the franchise network.’
Headquartered in Irvine, California, BHHS has more than 1,500 offices across the US, Canada, Europe, and the Middle East.
Its sales volume exceeds $119 billion (€102 billion) a year.
Click here to read more Marbella News from The Olive Press.
This guy was released with no charges, but I guess you aren’t going to report that! You should be ashamed to call yourselves reporters.
Because we haven’t been told yet …
We have reported he was arrested. No-one has denied that. So no shame here.
If he was released, as you say, WITHOUT charges, then we will report that next of course.